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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Xenos armies and you

Let's be honest we can all most likely agree that GW has a love affair with power armor. Unless it has girls in it of course then for some reason then they get a halfhearted attempt at a update and rules..Let's review

Bald screaming man of various ages = who wants some more war gear?
Girl in armor not bald and screaming = is there a kitchen in the dark grim future to stick them in?.. No hmmm, perhaps a WD update while we figure out what to do.

The point is that the Marines get some codex love and perhaps rightly so since they are the good guys. The story needs someone that you can cheer for and that can attack the evil while saving the girl...errr... Emperor. When you play this game the majority of the field at tourneys, events, or just in general seems to be the power armor of various flavors so you should know how to play against them. They have the what it takes and honestly most of them are the better books, more than that though they are the more forgiving forces. The wrong move with Dark Eldar, Tau, or even Demons for example can cost you the game. You can't come back from a mistake like you can with the imperial forces, not to mention they pack reliable tools for that which ails you. Xenos tend to get the short end of the stick.

I could give you a number of reasons why everyone can't play the good guys. I mean good cop is useless without bad cop right? I could also tell you how cool Chaos stuff is or how much fun it is to kill marines when playing this game. (If you haven't ever killed marines with a non marine army I suggest you trade armies for even one day. lol ) I instead want to tell you something that not everyone will agree with it.
Playing Xenos armies makes you a better player.

Go ahead and think about that for a moment. Let it absorb into your brainwashed...err I mean your loyal imperial minds for those of you that don't play a non “serves the Emperor” army. You can argue or say what you want about that but it’s true and let me explain why.

Learning to win with an older or not as balanced codex makes you look at the game differently. There are several reasons but more than any other because it teaches you to learn and use the rules to this game so you can learn which needs to be exploited to help your cause. What that sounds like cheating you say? You would be wrong please sit down and wait until the end for questions.

How often as a marine player do you go to ground? Not often I would I guess since you are already sporting the army with the best saves in the game pretty much. However as soon as you play armies with a "sad panda" save you learn this rule is another valuable tool in your arsenal on the field.(not to be confused with a HotPanda save) Going to ground goes hand and hand with cover saves in general. Something else most the time you prob don't think too much about unless you playing a non marine army. However cover saves start to really change the game if you’re playing Orks for example. As long as I can get cover from something my six point Ork with his laughable six plus save in now a steal as his stats are solid and he all of a sudden has a four plus save. You start to notice and use terrain differently, because every time you can get that cover save it makes your six points a model amazing. I go to ground with Gretchin all the time, give them cover then put them in front of your Loota's for example to give your Loota's cover.. and go to ground. Now you have a three point model with a three plus save. It’s again another tool that you learn you can use. Not something you will always do but it’s using or exploiting a game mechanic in your armies favor.

If you play Eldar for example you again have to look at the game differently you can’t be trading units with more point’s efficient units from current codex’s. You start to really get a feel for how to use your movement, your deployment, and even you opponent’s play style to split his army or attack sections of it at a time. You don’t have the luxury of having melta in several units making your Fire Dragons very valuable meaning you learn when you should commit them and when you shouldn’t. You don’t have 5 other squads with melta to fall back on should you place them wrong. You will learn quickly to find weakness in your opponents deployment and to learn to judge movement and distance better with both versions of Eldar honestly, because every time you make a mistake you will pay dearly for it in pointy eared blood all over the battle field.

Playing Demons you almost give up the shooting phase and the deployment phase of the game. Demons have very little good shooting and are an assault oriented army. You really learn to use the DS mechanic of the game with both the Pro’s and Con’s because you are forced to. You start looking at the assault phase in a more serious manner and start to learn the rules in detail since you will win or lose based on your ability to command the Assault phase. Your ability to Multi assault or avoid the multi assault is going to be a skill you learn to practice and look for chances to pull off on the battlefield.

I could go on with examples, but what I am pointing out here is nothing new. I am basically stating that sometimes you need to venture outside your comfort zone to grow as a player. Giving you a new prospective or forcing you to play differently for some time. What you will find is that the strategies and tactics you learn by doing this will apply to all armies, and will make you a better player over all. GW seems to make Xenos races good for a more challenging game more often than not, but they still can and do win games, and perhaps have the ability to make you a better player. Just some food for thought.

I would have to disagree with your statement. There have been several other issues since 5th edition complained about by upset people to single out WH players upset because they not only didn't get a real codex but they got a Nerf while waiting. I don't play WH for the record but it was a missed opportunity and anytime a army takes a hit it's not great for the hobby or community as a whole.

Plus it's bad form to call people brats for complaining when your statment is basically a complaint. How about some reasons they shouldn't complain or even why your tired of hearing it?

About Me

You may know Drkmorals from such sites as MWC, FTW, STC, and now 40k Global. His personal site is Emperor's Codex. All these places he randomly spills 40k nonsense and tries to impact the community in a positive manner.